One recall often leads to the next

The Washington Post

Published Thursday, September 27, 2007

The word "recall" often conjures images of emptied shelves and store counters piled high with defective or hazardous items brought in by consumers. But the reality is often quite different as the recent recalls of toys, jewelry and cribs show.

Last week, Simplicity recalled one million cribs following the death of two infants. But the company, based in Reading, Pa., wasn't asking for anyone to return a crib. It had recalled some of the same models before, and in each of the recalls, Simplicity instructed owners to ask for new hardware or instructions and repair the cribs themselves.

Even when manufacturers issue a recall and say the products should be returned, they often don't get them back. Sometimes customers complain the paperwork is too onerous or the product cost so little, returning it isn't worth the hassle. As a result, even a big name retailer such as Target can recall hundreds of thousands of play sets and get back fewer than a thousand.

Faced with a recall, many customers simply toss the products in the trash, eliminating the danger. But consumer advocates say another trend suggests companies and the Consumer Product Safety Commission need to do more: the rise of "expanded" recalls.

In the past two years, at least five companies including Simplicity have issued larger or expanded recalls of a product that had been recalled before. Such repeat recalls, which usually follow more reports of injuries, hardly ever happened a decade ago, product safety experts said.

Consumer advocates say the expanded recalls and low return rates are the product of a consumer protection system that largely relies on companies to report problems and lets them choose whether to repair, replace or refund defective or hazardous products.

Those who represent companies that have had recalls, however, said the system allows businesses to act quickly to remove dangerous products from the market.

It is hard to measure how well the process for recalls serves consumers. Businesses rarely disclose return rates for recalled products. But 19 companies, from small importers to toy giant Mattel, released that information to House Energy Subcommittee chairman Rep. Bobby L. Rush, D-Ill., who held a hearing on toy safety last week.

The company that had the best response was RC2, the Oak Brook-Ill.-based makers of Thomas & Friends toys. The company said consumers had sent in 590,000 of the 1.5 million toys it recalled in March for potentially containing lead paint, company spokeswoman Nancy Davies said.